Chinese Hold A Dissident Who Was Briefly Set Free

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April 9, 1994

BEIJING — China has detained a veteran democracy campaigner 11 months after freeing him from prison, undoing the human rights gesture widely credited with helping Beijing win renewal of trade privileges with the United States last year.

Police detained Xu Wenli, 50, early Thursday and interrogated him overnight. He was then allowed about five minutes' freedom Friday before being detained again on a new 24-hour warrant, his wife, Kang Tong, said.

Xu's detention comes less than a week after police seized Wei Jingsheng, known as the father of China's democracy movement.

China released Xu in May after the dissident had served 12 years of a 15-year sentence imposed after authorities clamped down on the brief ''Democracy Wall'' period of the late 1970s.

The United States at the time praised his release, and shortly afterward renewed China's most favored nation trading rights.

President Clinton must decide by June 3 whether to give Beijing most favored nation status for another year. He has vowed to withhold it unless Beijing makes significant progress on human rights.